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The American woman, Lindsay Shiver, whose plans were foiled in her alleged attempt to kill her husband while in the Bahamas was released on $100,000 bail on Wednesday.

Appearing in jeans and a t-shirt with flip-flops, the former beauty pageant contestant strutted into court clutching a folder with a fresh coat of pink nail polish.

She was reunited with her young lover Terrence Bethel, 28, who arrived at court with friend Faron Newbold, 29, both freed on $20,000 bail last week.

Bahamian police intercepted their plans while rummaging through Whatsapp text messages telling Newbold to “Kill Him” along with a picture of her husband Robert, whose family owns property in Baker’s Bay and regularly vacations on the island.

Shiver paid her bail money in cash and gave the court copies of a lease agreement for a residence to stay in the Bahamas while awaiting trial, according to the Daily Mail.

Represented by Ian Cargill, she surrendered her passport to a US Embassy official during the proceeding presided over by Judge Cheryl Grant-Thompson.

Shiver will report to a police station three times a week, adhere to an 8 pm to 6 am curfew, and cannot go within 100 feet of her husband.

Shiver left the court outfitted with a GPS ankle bracelet and drove off in a waiting Mercedes.

On Tuesday, she appeared at the court requesting bail but was ordered to return on Wednesday when she was finally granted it.

Lover Bethel told the Daily Mail, the messages were just casual talk and that neither Newbold nor Shiver were serious about the alleged act.

“Go and get the transcripts from the police. They have had both of my phones for three weeks. They’ve been through every single message – there’s nothing there.

“None of us have anything to hide. People are taking everything at face value and defaming us.”

Photo credit: The Daily Mail

North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish was charged with rape, assault, and death threats on Wednesday for alleged abuse of his former girlfriend between January and April. The charges against the sitting Member of Parliament raised a legal question—do criminal charges disqualify Cornish from representing North Abaco in the House of Assembly?

The short answer is that even though Cornish is charged, the two counts of rape, two counts of assault, and one count of death threats against him cannot cause him to resign from the seat.

No law or rule stops him from staying in the House of Assembly while fighting the charges.

Cornish, a first-time MP, after winning the North Abaco seat in the September 2021 General Election, is not legally required to resign from his seat unless he is convicted and sentenced to more than 12 months in prison, according to Article 48 (1)(f) of the constitution.

If pressure from his party and the public builds, he can choose to leave his seat and the vacant seat would then require a by-election–when political parties put forward candidates as replacements for the MP who quit Parliament. Voters from the North Abaco constituency will choose who should succeed him.

In a statement released before his arraignment, Cornish defended his role as the partner in the two-year relationship with Warduia Lightbourne. “The charges are based on allegations which are totally false.

“I am fully confident that the facts which emerge during the judicial process will prove my innocence. I look forward to ending this nightmare…this was a breakup that was manipulated and exploited for political reasons—and nothing more.

“The truth will set me free.”

The charges are embarrassing for the Progressive Liberal Party and have thrust the mp’s conduct into the national spotlight since he also served as parliamentary secretary in the Prime Minister’s office before his resignation on Tuesday night.

While he is not the first sitting parliamentarian to be charged with a crime, it is a practical hurdle that could inhibit the governing party’s campaign in the next general election.

The woman who accused Kirk Cornish of raping, assaulting and issuing death threats against her during their two-year relationship, was named in a court document as Warduia Lightbourne.

Earlier in the year when Lightbourne made the allegations, she was never officially identified but remained anonymous with broadcast media only showing her lower extremities as she recounted the horrid details entailing her boyfriend, the first-time North Abaco MP.

She filed the police report in April and Cornish was charged on Wednesday on five counts–two counts of rape, two counts of assault and one count of threats of death. She is expected to testify against him when the trial date is set, which will thrust her into the national spotlight.

Who is Warduia Lightbourne?

Lightbourne’s  Facebook page said she studied medicine in Cuba and pictures show her in a medical uniform as she holds a certificate from the Latin America School of Medicine in Havana.

Friends congratulated her as a pediatrician in 2020.

How did Warduia Lightbourne describe the rape, assault and death threats?

The 35-year-old accused Cornish of raping, assaulting and threatening her between January and April.

According to the claims, Cornish choked her twice near unconsciousness, then poked her in the eye which he excused to be ‘an accident’ while the couple stayed in Abaco.

She alleged he even threatened to kill her family while she watched.

On March 24 while spending time in Nassau together, Lightbourne said Cornish held a knife to her throat and attempted to stab her.

Then on April 4, he ripped off her pants and underwear and forced himself on her. Before leaving the house, the MP said he came by to kill the family but ‘not enough of the family was in the yard.’

She then filed a police report on April 7.

During her conversation with the media in April, she said, “…something has to be done because he needs help, and whatever route that takes, it has to be done.

“I didn’t do this to hurt him. I did this to help him.”

A prosecutor has charged North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish on 5 counts centering on the alleged abuse of his former girlfriend. The first-time Member of Parliament who came to office in 2021 was arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday morning following months of swirling accusations and questioning.

Cornish is charged with counts of sexual assault, physical assault, and death threats.

He did not enter a plea, was denied bail, and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections. His attorneys Owen Wells and Anthony McKinney made a mad dash to the Supreme Court seeking bail approval.

The night before his arraignment Cornish said “The truth will set me free,” proclaiming the allegations came as a result of “a break up that was manipulated and exploited for political reasons—and nothing more.”

What is Kirk Cornish charged with?

The 5-count charges returned by prosecutors on Wednesday include:

• Two counts of rape
• Two counts of assault
• One count of threats of death

Questions about Kirk Cornish’s conduct

The charges against Cornish were filed after months of police investigations and after he was questioned in April for the alleged claims. He was elected the Member of Parliament in September 2021 for North Abaco following the General Election and during his second year serving in the position, he has been dogged by the allegations about his conduct toward his girlfriend who appeared in the media to reveal the horrid details of their two year relationship. The woman Warduia Lightbourne said “…something has to be done because he needs help, and whatever route that takes, it has to be done. I didn’t do this to hurt him, I did this to help him.”

Cornish has been accused of choking her twice near unconsciousness, then poking her in the eye which he excused to be an accident. She alleged he even threatened to kill her family while she watched.

On March 24 while spending time in Nassau together, she said Cornish held a knife to her throat and attempted to stab her. Then on April 4, he ripped off her pants and underwear and forced himself on her. Before leaving the house, the MP said he came by to kill the family but ‘not enough of the family was in the yard.’

She then filed a police report on April 7.

Cornish was questioned by police in May and released as police continued their investigations.

Since the court filings, he has resigned as Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister and remains the MP for North Abaco.

When will Cornish appear in court?

He will return to court on October 17 for a Voluntary bill of indictment and could face years in prison.

After months of waiting to see if the controversial sitting North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish will face charges for the alleged sexual and physical assault of his former girlfriend, the first-time MP will be arraigned on charges of sexual assault and threats of death.

The new and stunning development came Tuesday evening though police reports failed to specifically identify the “48-year-old male of Abaco.”

Cornish responded after reports circulated that he was indeed the individual to be arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court at 10 am.

“The charges are based on allegations which are totally false.

“I am fully confident that the facts which emerge during the judicial process will prove my innocence. I look forward to ending this nightmare,” he said in a statement.

This statement came after he resigned as Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, to which PM Philip Davis said the Director of Public Prosecutions “determined that there is sufficient evidence to bring charges” against Cornish.

“It is now up to our judicial system to resolve the outcome,” Davis summed up in a press release.

Cornish was questioned in May about the alleged incident which occurred in April and turned himself in to authorities in Grand Bahama where the police report was filed, but was soon released after questioning.

Many in the public doubted his arrest considering his public profile.

This case is unprecedented in nature and rarely do Bahamians see the arrest and charge of parliamentary members.

His charge and arraignment means he has a case to answer but Cornish said the evidence will show that “this was a break up that was manipulated and exploited for political reasons—and nothing more.

“The truth will set me free.”

Cornish remains the member of parliament for North Abaco.

The overconfident CEO of the doomed submersible Titan, Stockton Rush tested his vessel in the Bahamas 5 years before he and four adventurers met their fate in the North Atlantic Ocean on a quest to see the wreckage of the legendary passenger liner the Titanic.

Rush is seen peering through the only porthole of the vessel during a test dive in Abaco, Bahamas, boasting that it is “the largest viewport of any private deep-diving submersible.” In May 2018 while on the island, he tested the computer equipment and posed near the vessel on the deck of a ship as he prepared to launch his newest adventure which was not certified.

Underwater photographer Emmy Award Winner Becky Kagan Schott took the photo of the ill-fated, disastrous minivan-sized vessel which was made of carbon fibre composite, which many argued could not withstand the immense pressure and cold of the great depths of the ocean.

This was one of two images taken by the acclaimed photographer who in 2019 believed the Titan “was going to the Titanic and would be used for other scientific missions.”

In another photo taken in the island-nation, Schott said, “My image of the OceanGate Submersible Titan descending into the depths during a test dive in 2019 in the Bahamas.”

But the craft, operated with a handheld PlayStation controller, was domed from its conception as Rush too acknowledged the risk saying “at some point, safety just is pure waste” during an interview with CBS correspondent David Pogue last year.

“I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything. At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk/reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules.”

Experts from the Marine Technology Society sent a letter to Rush, warning him of “catastrophic” consequences if he continued to ignore “the safeguards that protect all submersible occupants,” but OceanGate opposed outside safety testing of its submersible in a 2019 blog post, asserting that it would be “anathema to rapid innovation,” as the company claimed that its “real-time hull health monitoring” would be able to determine “if the hull is compromised well before situations become life-threatening.”

The vessel’s discovery on Thursday proved just that as debris found on the ocean floor was “consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber” in the submersible, said Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

After a five-day intense search for the wealthy crew of explorers who spent over $250,000 for a seat on the doomed craft, investigators still have not found the bodies of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush  nor passengers British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani investor Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman nor French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Photo credit: Becky Kagan Schott

Before 50-year-old Princess Mills drowned, the preacher and teacher often traversed the northern islands to spread the gospel message, after teaching students in Family and Consumer Studies at SC Bootle High School.

When friends and family found out that she died tragically after a boat in which she was a passenger overturned early Thursday morning, they were in disbelief.

“I tried not to believe this as I fought internally with so many emotions…This is a tough pill to swallow,” cousin Elon Elcaro said.

“My beautiful, anointed, powerful, rare, phenomenal, supernatural, believing cousin,” he lamented.

Mills was in Freeport for a church service where she danced and preached, after which, she called a ferry boat to carry her back to Abaco where she planned to spend the Easter holidays with her husband and son in Moore’s Island.

But before she could arrive, the 20ft Grady boat capsized. Mill’s lifeless body was found floating near the vessel as the 19-year-old boat captain who always ferried her to the various islands, was found clinging to the vessel after 2 am.

Her father Jonathan Stuart reminisced, “Everybody really loved her.”

Stuart helped her load the boat with her belongings before her departure from McClean’s Town, after which she kissed him and said, “Daddy I’ll see you when you get home.”

Friend Terrece Isabella who also taught at SC Bootle High School said it was typical of Mills to take boat rides at night to partake in various church services in Marsh Harbour, Eleuthera and Freeport.

“There were no seasons in my life in the last 20-plus years, that she didn’t show up, and show up she did.

“Princess [Mills] was gentle, radical in faith, sacrificial and motherly. I witnessed Princess giving people the last that she had. Oftentimes, people were quick to take advantage of her generosity and loving nature, without regard for her sacrifices.

Isabella said Mills was the epitome of selflessness. “She fed and provided for those she believed needed her.

“She never put herself first. It was just Princess—a giver.”

Former student, Devon Cooper said, “This cut me deep. From high school, I always knew her to be an example of a true woman of God.”

While another student Krizstina Rutherford described her as “the best Home Economic teacher anyone could possibly ask for.”

Nicole battered Abaco and Grand Bahama with extensive flooding. The tropical storm strengthened to a category 1 hurricane when it hit the northwestern islands.

Images of flooding circulated on social media as Nicole moved over Grand Bahama with winds of 75mph on Wednesday.

The Bahamas Department of Meteorology reported a nearly 4-foot (1.2 meters) storm surge north of the town of Treasure Cay on Abaco where some residents sought refuge in storm shelters.

Nicole follows the devastations left behind by Hurricane Dorian which hit Abaco and GB in 2019.

Before officials gave the all-clear for Andros, Eleuthera and New Providence, ocean waves crashed onto the streets in western New Providence.

Nicole landed in Florida on Wednesday night, slamming the east coast, and washing away some backyards and buildings.

Featured Image: Keith Gomez of Freelance Media Group

Tropical Storm Nicole is evolving and is churning towards the northern Bahamas before it heads to Florida.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Abaco, Berry Islands, Bimini and Grand Bahama with a tropical storm warning for Andros Island, New Providence and Eleuthera.

Eliane Hall, who works at a hotel in Great Abaco island, told CNBC that islanders were queuing at gas stations and grocery stores preparing for the storm’s arrival.

“We just boarded it up,” she said of the hotel.

Abaco and Grand Bahama were devastated by Hurricane Dorian in 2019 when category 5 winds struck the islands. Experts worry that communities in these areas will receive a direct hit from Nicole.

Capt. Stephen Russell, emergency management authority director said, “We don’t have time to beg and plead for persons to move.”

Meteorologists said the storm has a “very large cyclonic envelope.”

The storm’s track shifted slightly north overnight, but it’s path is uncertain as it approaches Florida, where it is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Tropical storm conditions are expected in the Bahamas by Tuesday tonight or early Wednesday.

Airports and seaports will close as the storm nears and not reopen until Thursday, and they urged people in shantytowns to seek secure shelter.

Hurricane warnings were issued for a portion of Florida’s Atlantic Coast, from Boca Raton to north of Daytona Beach. Tropical storm warnings are in place for other parts of the Florida coast, all the way to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. The warning area also stretches inland, covering Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, with tropical storm watches in effect on the state’s Gulf Coast — from Bonita Beach in southwest Florida to the Ochlockonee River in the Panhandle.

Today marks the third anniversary of the passage of Hurricane Dorian over the Bahamas.

On September 1, 2019, the monstrous storm caused widespread devastation in Grand Bahama and Abaco and killed many residents on these islands.

Many people remain missing.

Here is a look back at this emotional period in Bahamian history as many Bahamians and Haitian migrants still struggle to regain a normal life some three years later.